Sonic and the Return of Robotnik
by Komodin
Summary: Several months after the fall of the Death Egg, Sonic's vacation came to an abrupt end with the appearance of a long-forgotten robot. Its destruction soon unfolds into an adventure to save the world from a foe who was thought to have lost everything.


_Disclaimer__: I do not own anything from the Sonic the Hedgehog series; the rights of all things related to it are copyrighted by Sega._

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_**Sonic and the Return of Robotnik**_

_**A Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic, by Komodin**_

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_Ah, peace and relaxation..._

It has been seven months since the nefarious Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik has attempted to take over Earth. His latest attempt - the moon-sized fortress, the Death Egg - is but a faint memory in the public eye. During that adventure, Sonic the Hedgehog has made a new enemy, and later, ally in the enigmatic Knuckles the Echidna of Angel Island. With the floating continent back in the sky once more and the Death Egg mere scraps of metal floating in deep space, the trio went their separate ways. Knuckles went back to guarding Angel Island and its main treasure, the Master Emerald. Miles Prower, known to Sonic and his friends as "Tails," journeyed to Cocoa Island for some R&R.

Sonic the Hedgehog, on the other hand, opted for a new locale for his vacation.

Relaxing on his beach chair, Sonic was watching the ocean waves splash lightly on the beach. The sun beamed down high above the shores of Splash Hill, the sky clear and blue as ever. With his radio blaring just a couple feet away, he was silently rocking his head back and forth, juggling a gold ring in his hand. His sunglasses were over his bright green eyes, shielding them from the sun's rays. After a few seconds of one-hand juggling, he opened his mouth and let loose a loud yawn.

"Ah, this is the life..." Sonic muttered, smiling. "No badniks, no deadly traps, no killer factories, no creepy space stations, and absolutely no weird egg-shaped dudes. Just me, myself and I, chillaxin' - just the way I like it."

As he gazed upon the ocean waves that flowed gently before him, a loud rumble suddenly rang out from his stomach. "Oh, time to eat!" Reaching over to his table, he picked up a small object wrapped in aluminum foil. Sitting up from his chair, he started to tear apart the foil. As he opened the foil-wrapped object, a spicy scent filled his nostrils. It was a scent he was most familiar with, yet still made his mouth water every time. The aroma enveloped him as he removed the foil cover and tossed it aside.

Resting in the palm of his hand was a jumbo frank wrapped in a crisp bun and slathered with a thick layer of chili. Little puffs of steam rose from the warm franks, lightly touching his muzzle. As the spicy aroma emitted by the chili dog lingered in his nose, his mouth started to water. All he could think about was the chili dog, biting down upon it, and savoring every bit of flavor he could taste.

"Ah…" he muttered, letting out a sigh. "A chili dog: truly a hedgehog's best friend. Bon appétit, Sonic…"

Just as he started to bite down on it, he suddenly heard a sharp, cracking sound off in the distance behind him.

"_Target sighted: Sonic the Hedgehog!"_

He snapped back into attention and looked up from the meal. His ears twitched and pointed back behind him. Teeth clenched, he turned his head toward the noise. Lifting up his sunglasses, he squinted his eyes and hummed.

He spotted a faint reddish spotted object speeding towards him. As the zooming object came closer and closer into view, Sonic could make out something similar in appearance to a giant ladybug. It had one single yellow arm out in front, with its eyes locked onto the confused blue hedgehog.

"Hey," he muttered, hand over his eyes, "is that a ladyb-?"

Before he knew it, the bug-like figure smashed through Sonic's table and struck his beach chair. The abrupt impact launched Sonic skyward, sending him flying towards the waves.

"Aaugh!" he screamed. He struck the water with a loud splash, sinking into the briny deep like a stone weight. Just a few seconds later, however, he came back up, gasping loudly for air.

"What the heck was _that_?" Sonic yelled, thrashing about in the water. He slowly, and haphazardly made his way back towards the beach, kicking his legs as fast as he could. Splashing down onto the sandy grounds, he fell to his knees, breathing in broken gasps.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Looking up, he saw the figure destroying what was left on his table and beach-chair. The figure was a red ladybug-like robot, slightly bigger than him, with bluish-black spots on its abdomen. Instead of legs, it had a single, huge car wheel on its underside, making it look like a weird unicycle. Its mandible, built into a bug-like head, chewed on the remains of his radio. It hopped in apparent glee, sending broken chair and chili dog pieces flying around it.

Scanning the buggy machine up and down, Sonic gasped. "A _Motobug_?" he muttered, mouth agape. "How'd it get all the way here from South Island? I thought I trashed all those clunkers ages ago!" Getting back to his feet, with his hands over his mouth, he yelled, "Hey!"

"Huh? Huh?" The Motobug turned back towards Sonic and jumped back. "Target not killed! Target not killed!" it uttered, backing away from the blue hedgehog. "Retreat! Retreat!"

The bug robot, to Sonic's surprise, did an about-face and, revved up his wheel and zoomed away.

"Hey!" Sonic yelled again, "you're not getting away!" Crouching down, he curled into a ball. After a couple seconds of spinning in place, he took off like a bullet towards the bug robot. He opened his eyes for a brief moment; first, he saw the Motobug jump in panic. Next, all he saw were a few bundles of colored wires with a slit-shaped hole in front. An even louder, though brief, buzz sounded off as he went through the wires and gears. Next thing he knew, he was back on the sandy beach ground, down on one knee and no worse for wear.

Just as he started to stand up, a loud explosion sounded off from behind. Sonic immediately crouched down, covering his face from it. The sky turned red and white as a fireball grew in size, wiping out everything in its path. Then, just as abrupt as it appeared, the fireball dissipated.

Looking up, he saw a small, blue Flicky bird right in the center of a circle of burnt grass where the Motobug once stood. The Flicky laid motionlessly on the singed ground, its eyes closed.

_Oh no, _Sonic thought, dashing over to the fallen bird. Looking down on it, he breathed a sigh of relief. Not only was the Flicky still breathing - its chest puffed up and down at a normal pace - other than a couple black spots of soot on its diminutive body, it was no worse for wear.

Slowly, he picked up the Flicky, careful not move any of its limbs. "Hey..." he muttered. "Are you alright?"

The Flicky groaned, opening its brownish-gold eyes. "Wha-where am I?" it uttered in a squeaky, girlish voice.

"You're in Splash Hill," Sonic replied. "Are you hurt?"

She silently looked at Sonic, squinting before finally making a loud gasp. "Wait, are you Sonic the Hedgehog? _The_ Sonic the Hedgehog?!"

Sonic chuckled. "The one and only!"

To Sonic's surprise, she immediately shot out of his hands and into the air, yelling, "Omigosh! _Omigosh!_ It's him! It's truly _him_!" She flew around in a tight circle a few feet above Sonic, babbling incoherently; in between the gibberish, he heard his name over and tight. Sonic couldn't help but be baffled by the weird display: one minute, the bird looked almost dead; next, she's flying around as if it never happened.

After a few more seconds of circling, she dove down and, landing just a feet above the ground, grabbed Sonic's hand. "Oh, thank you, Sonic! Thank you, thank you, _thank you!_" the Flicky yelled, shaking his hand so fast that she nearly knocked Sonic off his feet. "I _honestly_ thought I was a goner there!"

"Hey, hey, _hey_, it's n-no problem!" Sonic said, and the Flicky finally stopped, though still grinning cheerfully.

"Sorry..." she said.

"Eh, it's cool," Sonic said, smiling. "Just wanted to help. Say, you were in that badnik, right? Did you see who did that to you?"

The Flicky shook her head. "I _honestly_ don't know! I mean, I was just flying through the trees, minding my own business, and a _huge_ claw-looking thing just came up out of nowhere and grabbed me! Next thing I knew, I was inside that bug robot, hooked up to some weird cords and gizmos and stuff!"

Sonic stroked his chin, intrigued by the Flicky's comment. "Okay, so, you didn't see any weird egg-shaped dudes around here lately?"

"No...?" the Flicky replied, raising her eyebrow. "Why would yo-wait, you don't think..." She gasped. "_He's_ back?!"

Sonic shook his head. "I doubt it. After that whole 'Death Egg' deal went up in smoke, I doubt he has the resources to make a _toaster_, much less an actual badnik!"

"Well, _something_ had to have put me in that robot thingy! I mean, is there _really_ anything stopping that claw thing from attacking other people here?"

Sonic folded his arms, deep in thought. _Did_ that "claw" had something to do with Eggman? If not, was there some copycat running around and turning animals into robots in the mad scientist's absence? If Eggman _did_ have something to do with the "claw", did he have a secret facility here, just waiting to rise from the ashes of the Death Egg into an even _bigger_ threat to the world?

"Okay," Sonic began, nodding, "you do have a point. You know what? I'm gonna investigate this little mystery myself; whether or not it actually involves ol' Robotnik, this thing, whatever it is, must be _stopped_!"

"Okay!" the Flicky said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well... er..."

"Lily."

"Right. Well, Lily, I guess you can start by telling everyone you see that, if they spot some huge claw thing, they should run away from it!"

"Got it! If I see anything suspicious, I'll tell ya right away!" And with that, Lily the Flicky flew off into the forest without another word.

With that settled, Sonic sighed to himself, looking skyward. "Welp, guess my vacation's over... for now, anyway." With a nod, Sonic took off into the forest, a new goal in mind: save the denizens of Splash Hill and stop whoever's in control of "the claw."

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_Author's Note_: Hello, reader! Thanks for taking time out of your day to read this story!

As you can see, this is an adaptation of _Sonic the Hedgehog 4_. I bet you're wondering, "Sonic 4? Seriously, guy? That game has, like, _no_ story whatsoever!" And you're right, in a way; the game's "story" is basically an excuse plot. However, here's my main goal with this story: to present Sonic 4's plot as an actually substantial narrative; to fill in the blanks, so to speak. Whether or not I'll actually be_ successful_ at that goal, well, that's for _you_ to decide...

Speaking of, how is the story so far? Did you find it enjoyable? Boring? If you have any questions or problems with this story, post your concerns as a review or send me a private message. Any constructive feedback is, and will always be, much appreciated.


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